The Senate higher education appropriations subcommittee OK’d a bill that did away with Gov. Rick Snyder’s proposal that would require universities to cap tuition increases at about 7 percent next academic year in order to lessen their cut.

The committee proposed a 15 percent reduction, which for MSU would equate to about $43 million.

Snyder’s proposal provided for a cut of up to 22 percent in appropriations for universities. Should university governing boards restrain tuition, though, that cut would be 15 percent.

Reports also indicated the Senate appropriations bill did not contain language that would require MSU and other universities that conduct research using human embryonic stem cells to report certain figures, such as inventory and number of projects.

The state House’s higher education appropriations bill, passed by its equivalent subcommittee last week, included the stem cell reporting language and largely adhered to Snyder’s proposals.